A big question that's come up recently is "How do I contribute platform details to an existing entry?" The functionality for this is built right in to the Add Game wizard -- just enter the title of the game already in the database (make sure it's exact!) and you'll be able to contribute platform and technical attributes. Again, make sure the title is exactly the same as the title in the database, otherwise you'll be adding a duplicate entry that we'll have to reject in the interest of keeping the database clean and consistent.

Today, a little more than two years after MobyGames first went on the wire and
3000+ games later, we are proud to unveil our most major new codebase yet.
More than just new features, it supports our new operating paradigm, which is
so big a change that it ushers in a whole new era in what MobyGames can do for
the gaming community:

MobyGames now has the true capability to support all gaming platforms. And
to prove it, we've added Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Playstation, and Playstation
2 to the list of supported platforms.

We don't have to tell you how significant this is, but we're going to anyway:
Supporting all gaming platforms opens up MobyGames' audience to a whole new
chunk of the gaming population -- and the more people contribute, the better a
resource MobyGames can be to everyone. We're honored to bring the same
quality and consistency that MobyGames has pioneered for the PC gaming
community to the wide world of console gaming.

To be fair, we've always had the capability to support multiple
platforms; the distinctions between DOS and Windows, for example, were treated
this way. But to support platforms that differ completely from one another,
we realized that we had to support different types of gamers as well.
So a major modification was made with the concept in mind that console people
and PC people aren't necessarily the same. To make viewing individual
platforms easier, you can limit what you see in MobyGames simply by going to
our URL prefixed with the platform name. This means if you go to
n64.mobygames.com, you'll see only Nintendo 64 games, or pc.mobygames.com
means you'll only see PC platforms (DOS, Windows, Booters, etc.). Of course,
you can still go to www.mobygames.com if you want to see all platforms. Check
our release notes for a full list of new features and filters.

Arguably, one of the biggest benefits to supporting multiple platforms is to
developers. Ever since the late 1970s, different developers have worked on
the same game but for different platforms, and now that information can be
properly catalogged and presented. For example, some of the developers in the
database only have a few games listed on their automatically-generated Bio
page, but now their Gameography can be fleshed out thanks to the addition of
more platforms.

Another major change in the new codebase involves handling user contributions.
Things like specifying which people worked on which platform is now possible,
as is different publishers for different platforms of the same game. And, not
related to platform-specific enhancements, you can even directly contribute
polls and featured Games of the Week now.

Now, I can probably guess what you're thinking: "Why stop at consoles? Why
not add all classic computer, gaming, and arcade platforms?" There are many
answers to that question, but the short answer is that we want to work out the
kinks in this new operational model before we commit to more platforms. We're
sure you can appreciate the nature of this change, so it's no surprise we want
to make sure everything is working properly, both conceptually and
technically, before expanding our scope even further. Note: There is no
planned release schedule on adding more platforms, console or otherwise. We
will announce new platforms in the future on the News page.

Of course, there are many more enhancements that uber-coder Brian has added,
so for a complete list, check out the release
notes for this particular rollout. And if you find anything odd going on,
please let us know at
[email protected].
(We're expecting quite a lot of mail on this subject in the next few days, so
your patience is appreciating in waiting for a reply.) Kick the tires, look
under the hood, and above all let us know what you think about our new direction.

While I'm on the subject: Is there something you feel the gaming community would appreciate? Have you written an entire strategy guide for an obscure/old game that you want to distribute? Is there a dark, insidious force moving inside the gaming industry that people should know about? Or do you just want to see your name up in lights? All can be achieved by writing a feature article for MobyGames. Over half of our feature articles have been written by contributors just like you -- yes, you, reading this web page. If you're willing to donate your time to educating the gaming community, we're willing to grant you up to 250 bonus contribution points for your help.

Remember the Dizzy series? Probably not if you're an American, but the Dizzy platform games were practically a household name in Europe. David Issacson has contributed our new feature article, an interview with the guys responsible for Dizzy and a host of new games you may not know them for. And did you know they're twin brothers?

Internal network is up and running, machines unpacked and repaired, all systems go. I'm back, and with an approval vengence. And just in time, too, because we've got some big changes coming soon that will no doubt cause a lot of you to do a double-take the first time you notice them. You won't be disappointed.

On a completely unrelated note, I just now learned (months late) that FASA is throwing in the towel. FASA is, of course, responsible for the BattleTech/Mechwarrior pen-and-paper game universe, and the resulting computer games licensees we know and love. I cut my teeth on pen-and-paper gamng like Dungeons & Dragons and Gamma World, and the original Mechwarrior is probably one of the top ten games responsible for Brian and I creating MobyGames in the first place.

I'm sad to see FASA go -- and yet it can be argued that computer games were primarily responsible for the P&P market dying way down and becoming unprofitable. They're selling all assets and intellectual property to Wiz Kids, so here's hoping Wiz Kids will do the series proper. Until April 1st, they're still in business and selling their inventory, so move your ass on over there if you want to pick up what you can while you can.

Sitting in O'Hare waiting to go home. Upgrade went smooth. Brian and I were in the datacenter for about 7 hours yesterday. Downtime was a little longer than we wanted I think a few hours total, but this install should ensure that Moby is up and stays up. Period. Oops there is my flight.

Leaving for Chicago in a matter of hours. Brian is already there. We are installing new equipment Saturday March 17th, so there may be a brief outage around 11:00 am CDT. Exciting things are happening behind the scenes here at Moby in terms of adding more features, improving the technology and trying to look towards the future. We'll keep you posted
.

I am finally back too. Trip was amazing, though I am very tired. Boy there is a lot to do on Moby, I will be plowing through approvals over the next 24 hours. Look forward to a new poll and featured game as well. Happy to be back. Sad I left. One wonders if there are high tech jobs in Hong Kong. I could easily see myself living there.

I'm back! But I'm going out again, as the family is taking a trip to New Orleans for a small family vacation. I'll be back Thursday.

I'd like to thank David Berk, our newest addition to the MobyGames family, for holding down the fort the last six weeks. For someone who doesn't have Brian's and my 2-year experience administrating MobyGames, I think Dave's done a great job so far getting the day-to-day done.

A lot of really complete game entries came in over the weekend. What a good way to start off Monday. I leave for Hong Kong Thursday morning. Brian still has guests and Jim doesn't have high speed access in his new house yet. This means we may be a little bit late approving contributions after Thursday. Don't worry I am only gone for 5 days and I am sure Brian's guests will have to stop skiing and go back home sometime.

Banged through a whole bunch of approvals. The new ad server seems to be working out. It is interesting to see which ads get clicks and which do not. We would be interested in hearing what people think about the Buy this Game button. Since we do not write reviews or rate the games it hopefully does not effect how people view MobyGame's impartiality. We do however get a small commission if you click on the link AND buy the game. This is to defray some of the cost of running Moby and highlight what we feel is an excellent retailer with good prices and selection.